i like what is a lot better than what if

     Well, A Chorus Line is closing on the great white way in just a few weeks.  This is a kind of sad thing, considering I was next in line to be Kristine in the Broadway company, but what are you gonna do?  Realize that there's something else in store.  Something good.

      So, the producer came to see the show tonight and had a few words for us before the show.  He basically passed the torch on to us, telling us that we are now going to be the only professional company of A Chorus Line at the highest level in the world.  He also said that the buzz is on about us in New York--there have been people saying that we are the best company of A Chorus Line, ever.  Well, wow.  I am honored and grateful to be a part of it.  And really, who knows if we are the best (what's the best, really, when it comes to art?)--but I will say that we are pretty good on the stage.  And more than that, we are a group of good, caring, interesting people.  Have I mentioned that I love people?  They fascinate me.  I could spend a long time just listening to conversations and watching people interact (which is why Drew has to often tell me to stop staring when we are in public...oops...).  

      Because this was our opening night here in Seattle (which, by the way, we have a lot of opening nights in a touring company!), we had a low-key affair afterward at a sushi restaurant. Now, the new broadway musical, Shrek, is also in Seattle, teching their show before they open for their out-of-town try-out before they move to Broadway.  So, some of the Shrek cast members joined us.  And this got me thinking.  

      Some of you may know that I was up for the part in Shrek.  I mean, really up for it--with a lot of callbacks and seriously good feedback from the creative team.  In the end, the choreographer was kind enough to email and let me know that, though they loved me, they just didn't have a place for me in the show (which is sooooooo extraordinary; you almost never hear that kind of a response from the creative team in this business. Never).  At that point, I had already been offered Kristine, so I was excited about that and knew God had done his thing and opened the right door.  

     But, back to tonight.  I realized as these cast members were walking in, meeting some of us--that that could have been me.  And how strange it would be to walk into this group of amazing people who make up the cast of ACL and not know any of them. The thought made me sad.  But, in a good way.  Because I realized that I am in the right place; that I am with the right people.  Don't get me wrong--Shrek would have been amazing and fun, but there is peace in knowing that things are as they should be.